Rice beaten in sudden death
Tim Rice. Pic via PGA Eurroprotour.comTim Rice was beaten at the third extra hole in a play-off for the Rowallan Castle Open on the PGA EuroPro Tour.
After opening with a six under 65, the 36 year old Limerick man was leading by two with six holes to play but bogeyed the 16th to finish tied with eventual winner Mark Laskey and his Welsh compatriot Oliver Farr on six under after a second round 71.
Colm Moriarty (69) was two shots outside the play-off in fourth with Ruaidhri McGee (68) tied for sixth and Paul Cutler (71) in joint ninth. Scores
Farr, who had closed with a 69, dropped out when he bogeyed the second play-off hole and Rice then bogeyed the third, handing Laskey the title and a cheque for £10,000.
After no play was possible on day two, the tournament was reduced to 36 holes with only the top 50 plus ties playing the final round.
Rice was seeking his first win the Europro Tour since 2004, when he won the Quinta da Ria Masters and the Swallow Hotels Open to earn a promotion to the Challenge Tour.
He at least earned a cheque for £3,750 to move up to 13th in the Order of Merit.
“It is great to get my first 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour win,” Laskey said. “It has been a long time coming so it is a bit of a hurdle I have finally jumped.
“When I lead by four I wasn’t thinking too far ahead but I was playing nicely and I was trying to push on and make birdies. I made a couple of sloppy mistakes but managed to keep my head together.
“It was definitely a lot harder today. Left to right winds are something I need to work on and that is where I messed up.
“I knew I was playing well enough and putting well. There are some tough holes to finish but I kept fighting and got into the play off. I haven’t been putting well this year so it was nice to putt well when I needed to.”
A two-hour highlights package of the event will be broadcast on Sky Sports HD at 8pm on Tuesday, August 13, repeated on Wednesday, August 14.
The next 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour event is the MarHall.com Scottish Classic, which takes place at Mar Hall Golf Club August 7-9.